Articles & Guides

Plain-English guides for family carers

Written by a practising GP. One country at a time.

All articles
🇦🇺 Australia · Aged Care

How to Get a Home Care Package in Australia (2025 Guide)

Step-by-step: My Aged Care registration, ACAT assessment, levels 1–4, waiting times, and what to do while you wait.

12 min readRead →
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · NHS Funding

NHS Continuing Healthcare: What It Is and How to Apply (2025)

Fully funded care for people with complex health needs — but most families never know to ask for it. Here's how the assessment works.

14 min readRead →
🇺🇸 United States · Medicare

How to Get Medicare Home Health Care for an Aging Parent (2025)

Medicare covers home health — but only under specific conditions most families don't know about until after a hospital discharge.

11 min readRead →
🇨🇦 Canada · Tax & Benefits

The Disability Tax Credit for Caregivers in Canada: A Complete Guide (2025)

DTC can save families thousands — but the T2201 form trips most people up. Here's exactly what the doctor needs to document.

10 min readRead →
🇳🇿 New Zealand · Home Support

Getting a NASC Assessment in New Zealand: What Carers Need to Know (2025)

The gateway to all funded home support — but most families don't know it exists until they're already in crisis.

9 min readRead →
🇮🇪 Ireland · Nursing Home Funding

How the Fair Deal Scheme Works in Ireland (2025 Guide)

The asset assessment, the three-year cap on the family home, and the application process — explained in plain English.

11 min readRead →
🇨🇦 Saskatchewan

Home care and long-term care in Saskatchewan

The SHA is your single entry point for everything. Special-care Homes, home care assessment, adult day programmes, and what to do when it's urgent.

🧺 GP written⏱ 7 min
🇨🇦 Manitoba

Home care and Personal Care Homes in Manitoba

Winnipeg vs rural Manitoba, the PCH pathway, supportive housing, and exactly who to call to get the process started.

🧺 GP written⏱ 7 min
🇦🇺 Australia

Support at Home — Australia’s new aged care programme explained

Replaced Home Care Packages on 1 November 2025. 8 classifications, free clinical care, quarterly budgets, pricing caps from July 2026. What changed and what it means for your family.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min🔄 Updated May 2026
🇦🇺 Australia

NDIS or My Aged Care — which one applies?

The age boundary (65 / 50 for Aboriginal & TSI), what happens when an NDIS participant turns 65, and why dementia is treated differently.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🇨🇦 British Columbia

Home and community care in BC — how the system works

Which health authority to contact, what the assessment involves, what long-term care costs, and how to move faster through the system.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🇨🇦 Alberta

Alberta continuing care — home care, supportive living, and long-term care

How Alberta’s system works under the 2024 Act. No referral needed. No fees for home care. How to access AHS assessment and what happens next.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🇨🇦 Quebec

Navigating senior care in Quebec — CLSC, CHSLD, and Maisons des aînés

The CLSC is your entry point for everything. How to open a file, apply for CHSLD placement, and what the 3,591-person waitlist means for your family.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min
🧠 Dementia care

What Good Dementia Engagement Actually Looks Like in a Care Home

Every care home says they engage residents. Here's how to tell if they actually do — what to observe unannounced, the questions that cut through the marketing, and what the answers mean.

🩺 GP written⏱ 7 min read
🌍 Family & children

Talking to children about a grandparent's dementia

How to explain dementia to children at different ages. What not to say, and why honest simple language is kinder than protection.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🌍 Carer health

Carer fatigue and carer burnout — they are not the same thing

Tiredness you can sleep off. Burnout you cannot. The clinical difference, and what to do when you are not sure which one you are in.

🧺 GP written⏱ 7 min
🌍 Family dynamics

I am the one doing everything — the unequal sibling burden

Written for the person who has been showing up every week while others have not. Why it happens and what can actually change.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min
🌍 Difficult decisions

When is it time to stop caring at home?

Not because the answer is complicated, but because it requires you to sit with the reality of what you can and cannot do. The signs, the science, and how to make this decision.

🧺 GP written⏱ 10 min
🌍 Difficult decisions

When a parent refuses to accept help

What drives refusal (including anosognosia), what the law actually allows, and what families can genuinely do.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min
🌍 Emotional support

The loneliness of caring — why carers are isolated

Carer loneliness is structural, not circumstantial. What drives it, and what the evidence says actually helps.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🌍 Carer health

Your health as a carer — what gets neglected and why it matters

Carers neglect their own health measurably and with real consequences. A GP explains what to check and how.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🌍 After caring ends

Life after caring ends — who are you now?

When caring ends, the grief is not only for the person who died. It is also for the role and the version of yourself that existed inside it.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min
🌍 Emotional support

Am I doing the right thing putting mum in a home?

The guilt is nearly universal and almost never talked about honestly. What it means, what it does not mean, and how to carry it.

🧺 GP written⏱ 9 min
🌍 Family & relationships

When siblings disagree about care for a parent

Why it happens, what drives it, and how to navigate it without permanently damaging relationships.

🧺 GP written⏱ 10 min
🌍 Grief & loss

Grieving someone who is still alive

Anticipatory grief in caring is real grief. It has a name. Why it is so disorienting, and how to move through it.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min
🌍 Dementia care

"Dad keeps saying he wants to go home."

What "home" usually means in dementia — and what actually helps, instead of what feels logical.

🧺 GP written⏱ 7 min
🇺🇸 United States

Medicaid Spend-Down Explained

What it means, how the five-year look-back works, what counts as a countable asset, and legitimate strategies for planning ahead.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min read
🇨🇦 Ontario, Canada

Ontario Long-Term Care Waitlists: How the System Works

How the waitlist actually works, real wait times, how to improve your position, and what funded support is available while you wait.

🧺 GP written⏱ 8 min read
🇦🇺 Australia

Home Care Package waitlist — how long and what to do while you wait

How long the wait really is, what affects your position, and what funded support is available in the meantime.

🧺 GP written
🌍 All countries

Signs your elderly parent needs more help — what to look for

The specific observations that add up to something. What to watch for on a visit and what to do when the picture becomes clear.

🧺 GP written
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Carer’s assessment UK — your rights under the Care Act

What a carer’s assessment is, who is entitled to one, what it can unlock, and how to request one from your local authority.

🧺 GP written
🌍 All countries

What to do after a dementia diagnosis — the first steps

The practical and legal steps that need to happen in the first weeks. Power of Attorney, My Aged Care, NHS pathways — what cannot wait.

🧺 GP written
🇦🇺 Australia

Home Care Package Australia — how it works in plain English

What Home Care Packages actually fund, how to get one, and what Support at Home means for your family.

🧺 GP written🔄 Monthly update
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

NHS Continuing Healthcare — what it is and how to get it

What NHS CHC actually is, how the checklist and full assessment work, and how to challenge a decision you disagree with.

🧺 GP written
🇺🇸 United States

Medicare home health care — what is and is not covered

What Medicare covers, how to qualify, how to find approved agencies, and what happens after the benefit runs out.

🧺 GP written
🇨🇦 Canada

Disability Tax Credit Canada — a complete guide for carers

Who qualifies, how to apply, and how the DTC interacts with the Canada Caregiver Credit and provincial benefits.

🧺 GP written
🇳🇿 New Zealand

NASC assessment New Zealand — what to expect

How the Needs Assessment and Service Coordination process works in NZ, what it covers, and how to access funded support.

🧺 GP written
🇮🇪 Ireland

Fair Deal scheme Ireland — how nursing home costs are calculated

How the HSE Fair Deal works, what you pay, how the 3% and 7.5% contributions are calculated, and what the process involves.

🧺 GP written